I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!
Tash

Email updates

Subscribe now to get an email with every new post!Leave Blank:Do Not Change:

identifying annual report tasks

Many people just accept an annual report exists, glance it and forget about it. Other people think annual reports are a good idea and that someone can just sit down for a few hours (maybe a couple of days) to write the report.

If only it was that simple!

I have already started on one client’s annual report – it won’t be released until September, so that gives you some idea of how long it can take.

So here is a list of tasks involved in producing a professional report that meets all legal, business and branding requirements professionally:

checking what legal and regulatory requirements apply and ensuring those requirements are met. I often start with checklist of topics to include so I don’t forget any of them

deciding on a theme, if suitable, as this will influence the exact wording and design, and possibly some of the actual content

reviewing final drafts to ensure the report meets the requirements from step 1, meets the business style guide, has all spelling and grammar correct, is readable, appears professional and somewhat attractive, has all correct numbers (check phone numbers, ABNs and addresses are perfect as typos are easily missed) and is approved by the responsible people

arranging printing – even with digital copies available, some printed copies are usually required – and digital access (formatting and uploading the document and adjusting webpages and links to make it accessible)

There also the additional tasks of arranging distribution (so designing and printing envelopes, arranging mailing lists and stuffing envelopes) and any other materials to go with the annual report (such as member statements, renewal forms and marketing flyers) that may be part of ‘writing the annual report’ or managed by someone else.

It is a lot of work and there is certainly some pride in the final result of your hard work, but it can be a little frustrating when you realise that many people just don’t open or read the annual reports they are given!

2 Responses to identifying annual report tasks

I, as a shareholder, get a couple of company annual reports every quarter. I will be honest as to not reading those reports in detail, but do appreciate the graphical content and the style in which the report is written. The paper quality is pretty good too. One should always appreciate the depths of creativity, efforts taken to gather and compile data and time taken while preparing an annual report.

That’s great to hear that people do appreciate various elements of annual reports, ranjitgeorge 🙂 It is hard to get interested in annual reports we receive in the mail so I think it is important to make them visually appealing and easy to read as they can contain important information.